IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Amazing Experience, They are one of the very best You can find in Kenya.
COMMUNICATIONS: Michael is prompt in replying to any query put forth. This is the main reason we chose Ancient Wild Safaris. We decided on Kenya just five days ahead of the trip, when our Egypt tour plan could not be executed. We had send queries to various tour operators in Kenya, Michael was not only the first to reply, we felt that his itinerary was also the best among the ones we received. We raised a few queries on receiving his itinerary & he was quick to respond to every one of it. He even called us up on phone prior we had agreed to go with him, which actually showed his commitment. We made full payment for the tour on reaching Nairobi, still he kept inquiring with us regarding our experience each day and also we want any changes in itinerary based on our experience.
SERVICE:This was a tailor made trip for our group of 5 adults. Michael is very flexible, from the time we started our initial communication. Basis our budget and requirement of 2 twin bedroom & a single bedroom, he had agreed to change the hotels as per our request. So the key here is the budget basis which he will upgrade or downgrade the hotels. He is way more economical than all the tour operators we had contacted with similar hotels & also his itinerary was way better. He also got us the Balloon Ride at Masai Mara for $390/- per person (usual rates are around $475/- per person). He will also let us know in advance regarding the optional programs that are available at an added cost & will also help us to have a better deal on those if we prefer to go with them.
LIVING UP TO EXPECTATION: Due to the shortage of time in preparing for the trip, we had been a little skeptical about the arrangements, but when we arrived Nairobi on the 18th of July, Michael had already made all arrangements, including the booking of all the hotels we had agreed upon. This was way beyond our expectations.
SAFARI TOUR: This was an experience of a lifetime. The Tour Guide / Driver Michael had arranged for us, Mr. Joseph was an exceptional tour Guide & an even better human being. We really enjoyed his company. At times when we took packed lunches, Joseph collected all the items which we will not have & packed it seperately to give them to the villagers there. This was a great gesture from him.
During our tour, We had been to Ambosili, Mt. Kenya, L. Nakuru, L. Naivasha & Masai Mara. During our Game Drive Joseph ensured that we got to see all actions that were going on in the parks. We got to see the Big Five at Masai Mara which was incredible as the other guests in our hotels did not get to see the Leopard which actually shows the dedication and knowledge of Joseph. At the end of each day, Mr. Joseph would let us know what time we need to be ready for the next day, and he was always ready with his vehicle at the mentioned time. He always tried to squeeze out the maximum possible activities each day, in in order to ensure that we did not miss out anything. His commitment and dedication was unbeleivable. During this entire trip Micheal kept corresponding with us and Mr. Joseph to ensure that everything works out smoothly. Michael even got us a parting gift when we completed our tour.
We highly recomment Ancient Wild Safaris to all of you a swe had an amazing experience.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
it was the best experience we ever had with my wife as we were celebrating our anniversary in Kenya
Peter did all the guide to us with great assistance from Edwin in the office we really enjoyed.
NO
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fantastic experience with Usambara i Ruaha National Park
We decided on Ruaha National Park for a short safari 3 days/2 nights, and after contacting a few agents/companies we decided to go for Usambara Expedition. Decision was based both on a reasonable price and because i had previously spoken with Alex(agent) in person and gotten a good impression.
We were met at Iringa by the guide the afternoon we arrived by bus and he shoved us to a reasonable hotel for the night. In the morning we set out with him and a cook for a couple of hours drive to the Park. We had 3 fantastic days, the cabins/new goverment bandas were really nice and I highly recommend our guide Serafino who put all in to give us the best experience! Lots of wildlife (we saw atleast 15 lions) and we hardly met any other cars/parties. I had heard about Ruaha before and wanted to go there and it turned out to be even better than expected. Especially if you prefer to not be crowded by other parties, and the wildlife is astonishing. Wholeheartedly give my recommendation to both Ruaha, Usambara Expeditions and in particular our guide Serafino!
SA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Our memorable trip to Murchison Falls with East African Jungle Safaris.
We chose East African Jungle Safaris based on Safari Booking reviews and price. We chose the three day safari to Murchison Falls which included both chimpanzee and rhino trekking. I highly recommend this trip! we were very pleased. Our guide, Joe was very friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. He bought us water and bananas along the way. The accommodations at Paraa Lodge were excellent. We reviewed them also. The safari itself was amazing and Joe went the extra mile to make sure we saw as much as possible. We would definitely use EAJS again.
NZ
65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Authentic, well planned, efficiently organised and warmly welcoming with amazing meals!
After many birding and wildlife safaris throughout Africa I recently spent 23 days with three friends on Ulinda Safari Trails 23 day Botswana Safari. This was, without doubt, the most exciting, comfortable, well planned and efficiently run safari and I cannot recommend Jane Bettenay and her team highly enough to those travellers who want to experience a real wildlife adventure visiting Botswana's great national parks. A special feature is Jane's specially designed four wheel drive Toyota Landcruisers with "pop tops" that allow passengers to keep warm in the morning/evening when it can be extremely cold in "open" vehicles and still have unobstructed views when game viewing/photographing. Anyone wanting a taste of the real Africa camping safari should definitely get in touch with Ulinda Safari Trails!!
US
Phinda combined the best of nature with the best accommodations, service and food!
We have been on many safaris and Phinda was one of, if not the best. We felt completely connected with nature , while still having Five Star amenities--accommodations, food, and service. This was one of the few lodges where I felt this way. The animals, the landscape, the design of the individual lodges at Vleit were just spectacular. I would recommend Phinda Vleit for anyone interested in having a phenomenal wildlife experience.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Just Awful
We booked a 7-day Kenya+Tanzania safari with a Kenyan operator and the 3-day Serengeti-Ngorongro portion was subcontracted to Migada. Unlike the Kenya portion, Tanzania was terrible in every way and our vacation was half-ruined.
The car had multiple problems and was absolutely unsafe. Breaks were bad and locked the tires on gravel roads so downshifting was the way to slow down. Parking break didn't work so it was always exciting to see the car run away until driver used rocks to stop it. Engine didn't start if turned off when it's warm, so engine ran the whole day even when parked next to the animals. We had to ask other drivers for a bump when driver stalled the engine. The car didn't have radio so game viewing was random. A policeman warned us about the wheels being not fit to drive. But more on the car later.
The driver got lost multiple times, starting day 1 from Isebania to the lodge in Serengeti. When it was getting dark he panicked and started driving movie stunt style on horrible roads, doing a pretty high jump where tires detached from the ground for about 4 seconds that felt like hours. No empathy with passengers' comfort for restroom or lunch breaks, we had lunch inside the car in dust while driving. The company's card was out of money while exiting Serengeti so we had to wait about an hr just to exit a park. Nothing happened smoothly..
The car broke down a few minutes after our descent into Ngorongro, and we found out the radiator had a leak that the driver knew about. His calls to the office were unanswered but another safari driver was kind enough to stop and take us into his car, and tow the broken car until the nearest water hole. We helped fill the radiator with muddy water and plugged the hole with elephant dung and the car surprisingly made it to Arusha the next morning on mud, dung and prayers. They gave us a new car from Arusha to Kenya border and then came our best moment in Tanzania: getting exit stamps and seeing our Kenyan driver on the other side.
Thinking back about the whole thing, we should've rejected getting into that car after the first day.
DE
35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Perfectly organized
Perfectly organized round trip throughout. We went to Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia. Monika had very useful tips and excellent advice for any need. Great service, easy communication and absolutely reliable. Many thanks to Monika and her team for this very special and unforgettable trip. We recommend The Safari Source.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent Experience
I found AAA on Safari Bookings and emailed them along with numerous other companies for a quotation on a 5 day safari. Jalala was the first to reply to my enquiry and his response to all my many emails with lots of questions was always extremely fast. I felt nervous booking a company through a website I was unfamiliar with so also telephoned Jalala to get more information, admittedly the line was not great but I felt confident enough to book. My Mother and I wanted to do a 5 day safari taking in Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorangora Crater, we specified that we were keen to see the wildebeest migration. Our driver/guide was Godson, he was a really kind, considerate and lovely guide with exceptional time keeping.
Lake Manyara was beautiful, we did not see the tree climbing lions but we did see a whole host of other wonderful animals. Angani Tented Lodge was lovely. We stayed at Angani Tented Camp for the next two nights in central Serengeti. AAA picked this camp as it was where the wildebeest migration was supposed to be. Due to an unusual season the migration was further North than expected but Godson spoke with other guides to find out their whereabouts and was able to take us to see the migration, this meant we had to leave an hour earlier than planned and we felt grateful for him to forgoes his rest for us. We are lucky enough that this was not our first safari, we are seasoned safari goers but Godson was able to consistently position his vehicle the right way round so that we could follow the action and also in places that at first seemed a bit odd but then turned out to be central to what was about to unravel. In the end we decided that the animals could smell him and were drawn to his vehicle! At one point we were watching leopard cubs in a tree and we could hear the grass rustling then a leopard cub popped out right nest to our car! We always seemed to arrive at just the right time, having never seen any kills before we saw 3 in two days. Godson wasn’t great at his birds but he was able to find them in his book and tell us which ones they were in a matter of seconds.
Rhino Lodge was really lovely and the Crater was spectacular, we saw the black rhinos!
Godson’s vehicle was extremely comfortable and was equipped with multi region plug sockets (very useful for charging cameras on the go) and a fridge. It had a strong pop up roof (some vehicles had no protection from the sun!). Godson kept it clean and tidy throughout and kindly cleaned his fridge for us (we did offer!) after one of our sundowner beers exploded in it! The roads are really rough on the vehicles and we noticed that Godson carried a toolkit and seemed to know how to fix most problems as he offered advice to other broken down vehicles and repaired two minor faults which happened to his vehicle. Having travelled on these roads for 5 days and seen the amount of stopped vehicles I think you should count yourself lucky if you do not need to stop for repairs!
Guides are given loaded cash cards to pay for the entry into the parks. There was a problem with our dollar cash card (it had expired) which meant we had to pay for the park fees at 2 places. We were really worried that it was some sort of scam but we needn’t have worried, Jalala refunded us the cash as soon as we got back to the office along with an extra $10 to cover card transaction fees.
The picnic lunches were large, tasty but could have been better, they were mostly wheat based products.
Overall our experience was excellent, the itinerary was exactly what we wanted and it was altered along the way to suit our needs and give us the best opportunity to see everything that we wanted to see. I would recommend this company.
FI
20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Recommended to small and big people!
Relaxed and nice atmosphere! Our trip was very successfull - even the smallest in our company were very well taught off and well taken cared off. Can recommend to you all!!